James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed work to create a space in media for stories by, for and about people with disabilities.

We’re marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month with a conversation with James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed—two founding members of FWD-Doc-- a global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies working in media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable entertainment industry that cultivates and champions disabled media-makers, and elevates stories by, for, and about people with disabilities.   James LeBrecht is a film and theater sound designer and mixer, author, disability rights activist, and filmmaker who with Nicole Newnham produced and directed  Crip Camp-the story of Camp Jened which ignited a community of people with disabilities to fight for their rights. Day Al-Mohamed  is an author, filmmaker, disability policy strategist, and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.  The Invalid Corps, a documentary about disabled veterans' contributions during the Civil War, was her first documentary as a blind filmmaker.

In this podcast, Jim and Day detail the mission of FWD-Doc and the issues that it is addressing: the lack of access and opportunity for people with disabilities in filmmaking, and the dearth of stories by and for people with disabilities. They discuss the many resources they offer on their website including their robust “Toolkit for Inclusion & Accessibility: Changing the Narrative of Disability in Documentary Film,” and their partnership with the International Documentary Association to establish the Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI),  a fund for nonfiction storytellers and media makers from the disability community. Al-Mohamed and LeBrecht also talk about their career trajectories, the difference between compliance and best practices,  and the need for access to be recognized as essential to diversity.